Draw-bar of car-couplings.



No. 889,748. PATENTED JUNE 2, 1908. L. BOIRAULT.

DRAW BAR 0F OAR COUPLINGS.

APPLICATION FILED 33110.12, 1906.

J6 n 3 A 20 U 1 3 3;

n fl/vam-hr //Vl [/V70/? lbuzlsBoirazLZi w ymw mf L OUISBOIRAULT, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

DRAW-BAR or CAR-COUTLINGS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 2, .1908.

Application filed December 12, 1906. Serial No. 347,405.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, LOUIS BOIRAULT, a

citizen of the Republic of France, residin at Paris, 8 Rue Emile Gilbert, in the Repu lie of France, en ineer, have invented certain new and use Improvements in the Draw- Bars of Car-Couplings, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements 1n the drawrods or bars of cars having a central bufiering device, and more partlcularly tp the drawbai's which carry at their outer end an automatic coupling apparatus and which are connected at t eir inner end to the underframe of the car by a yielding bufierlng dev1ce.

The purpose of the improvements is to provide simple and efiicient means whereby the sprin of the yielding bufiermg device operates %y compression to resist both the lmplngements of the cars and the pulling action exercised by the train, and to provide also means whereby the drawbar 1s yieldbottom of the yoke.

ingly held in the axial line of the car and is securely brought back into sald line after having been moved away from the sameeither to the right or to the left.

The accompanyin drawing shows, by way of example, one em odiment of this lnvention.

Figure 1 is an elevation of the drawbar with the automaticcou'pling device which it carries, the under frame of the car and the supporting elements of thedrawbar being shown in section. Fig. 2 is'a plan of the same arts.

In t e drawin s, 1 desi nates the cross-bar and 2 the lon 1tudinal ars of the underframe of a vehicle. Through an opening 37 in the cross bar 1 loosely passes the longitudinal bar 3 of a'T-shape drawbar 3, 4 on the transversal part 4 of which the coupling ap aratus 5 is mounted.

o the inner end of the drawbar 3 is connected, through the medium of a piece 17, having two crossed pivots 35 and 36, a oke 16, slidable between two sheet metal p ates 18 secured to the longitudinal bars 2. .19 designates a strong s iral spring arranged within the yoke 16 an acting on two slides 20 and'21, one of Which bears against the end of the drawbar 3, and the other a ainst the The vertica edges of the said slides abut against the heels 22, 23

formed on the plates 24, firmly secured to the longitudinal bars 2, so that the drawbar 3, with the yoke 16, cannot move longitudinally without one of the slides 20 or 21 compressing the spring 19 "against the other slide 21 or 20-, and the corresponding heel or we 23 or 22. The said spring thus deadens the shocks -arising from compression or draft.

On the sides of the drawbar 3 are attached, by means of chains 25, 26, transversal rods 31, 32 passing loosely through the bars 2 and the splral s rings 27, which bear laterally against the atter; each of the said rods is provided with a shoulder 28, arranged to abut against the inner face of the bar 2, and.

carries at its outer end a washer 29, designed to act on the spring 27, Nuts- 30 a1 ow. of adjusting the position of the said washers so as to equalize the tensions of the sprlngs 27.

When the drawbar 3, occupies its normal position, the shoulders 28 are 1n contact with the longitudinal bars and the chains 25 are stretched. If the drawbar 3, is removed from its normal position, for instance in the direction of the arrow A, the rod 32 is pulled by the spring'28 against the action of the corresponding spring 27 while the chain 25' gives way and the rod 31, retained .by its shoulder 28, remains motionless. Therefore, the springs act alternatively to bring the cou ling into its normal position, so that they 0 not operate in a differential manner. On

' pushing two cars the one against the other, the drawbar 3 forced back against the ac-- tion of the springs 19, bears against the slide,

21 and forces it rearward and the slide 20 into firm engagement with the heels or toes 22. The ap aratus thus acts as a central buffer and al ows of dispensing with the use of lateral buflers.

Whenthe couplings are secured together and the train is put in motion, the pull is transmitted from a car to the following one through the medium of the bars 2, the heels or the toes, 23, the s rings 19, the yokes '16, the drawbar 3, and t e coupling apparatus 5; the s rings 19 acting also by compression.

W en roundin curves, the couplings incline sli htly to t e right or left of the axial line of the cars and swm around the axes 35 and against the action 0 the sprin s 27.

On the cars being separated, eac coupling device is maintained in a determined position resting on the lower edge of the o ening 37 and giving way under the action of t e lateral springs 27.

('llalms 1. In a car under-frame, the combination of two fixed longitudinal bars, a draft bar movable between the said bars, lateral springs resting on the longitudinal bars and extending outwardly, rods each having two heads one of which enga es the outer end of a lateral spring and the ot er engages the inner face of a longitudinal bar, and chains connecting the inner ends of the said rods with the said draft bar.

2. The combination of an under frame of a car having a cross bar at the head and ion itudinalba'r's] an opening or aperture in t e said cross-bar, a drawbar passing through the said opening and having lateral displacement therein, a coupling head on the said drawbar, as ring adapted to maintain the drawbar yie dingly in the ion itudinal direction with respect to the sai under -frame, lateral springs resting on the longitudinal bars and extending outwards, bolts each having two heads one of which engages the outer end of a lateral spring and the other engages the inner face of the longitudinal bar, and chains connecting the inner ends of the bolts With the draw bar.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing my invention, 1 have signed my name in presence of two-subscribing witnesses.

LOUIS BOIRAULT.

Witnesses v HANSON 0. Com, MAURICE Roux; 

